[untitled]

Angel picked herself up from the floor. Her legs felt as if they never worked. She could see a red band around her ankles. She wobbled for a second before she could stand up straight. Her hand found the wall and leaned on it for a moment. The bathroom seemed so far away from where she stood. To think she thought that the mahogany door would of save her a mere hour ago. It was a long strenuous task taking that first step to the bathroom. She did not dare look at the pictures adorned on the wall. They depicted a family that appeared to be perfect. There she was holding a beautiful little girl. There was times where she was the only joy in Angel’s life.

She collapsed on the door in attempts to open it. She felt as if she was pushing the actual tree itself. She tumbled onto the bathroom floor. The Victorian style bathroom was as perfect as the rest of the house. Everything had a place in her husband’s home; including her. Angel grasped the marble sink and hoisted herself up. She was afraid to look in the mirror but forced herself to anyway. What she saw however did not surprise her in the least. She could barely see out her right eye and there was a cut underneath her lip. The teeth marks on her neck were slowly fading away. The only relief she found was that it was not as bad as she had thought. She touched her swollen eye and winced, she couldn’t cover that with the traditional amount of makeup. She could see tears flowing down her face and grabbed a towel to get rid of them.

“It’s past the time for crying”. She said to herself glaring at the mirror.

“Did you say something to me?” A deep voice asked from the door of the bathroom.

“No darling. I was talking to myself. I’ll get out of your way so you can get ready.” She moved away from the mirror.

It was times like this that she could feel the real man that she had married. The overbearing dictator, but as soon as those thoughts formed, she quickly pushed them aside. She tried hard to come in contact with him as she squeezed through the door. She caught the scent of his cologne which brought a flood of memories of when she was younger. If only she could grab on to those memories and bring them back. She could barely remember those long walks they used to have at their old neighborhood.

She felt stronger as she walked back down the hallway towards the bedroom. The hall did not seem as long as it did before. The pictures she still did not want to even glance at. She dropped on the queen sized bed and looked around the room. She blocked out the images of what had just transpired in the room. Besides what she was hiding from the room was beautiful. It was a women’s dream. Anything a woman could want out of the room was there. She had her walk in closet full of the latest threads. She had a closet for her shoes alone. Angel lay back on the bed and starred at the ceiling. There was a mirror there as well. In this house se could never get away from herself. Shai had unique tastes when it came to sex. She couldn’t help thinking that he loved himself more than anything in the world. All she knew was she loved him so much. She was always trying to find out why she made him so mad at times. She hated herself for it. Angel closed her eyes and prayed like she always did after she made him angry. She didn’t really believe in God anymore, but she hoped that someone or something would hear her prayers. She prayed for the same thing every time; that she would change so she could make him happy and stop the pain. Her prayers were never answered, but that did not hinder her resolve. The bed dipped suddenly. She had to stop herself from getting up quickly and calmly opened her eyes.

“Why do you like making me angry? Do you like that I have to hurt you?”

She did not say a word, but kept staring at the mirror. Her heart was beating up in her throat. The mirror reflected an image of a scared little girl.

“I called you out of work so you can spend time getting ready for the party.” He kissed her and rose of the bed. He walked over to the closet and rifled through her clothes. He picked out an outfit for her and laid it on the bed next to her.

“I will be late tonight. If you need me I will be at Niobe’s house. I expect to have something to eat when I get back to the house. I should be real hungry by that time.” Shai finished with a little chuckle. She felt her heart drop slightly. He walked out of the room without a single goodbye.

She waited until she heard his car drive off before she sat up on the bed. She took a look at the outfit he had chosen out for her. It was a simple black top and gray skirt. Whenever he did pick out her clothing it was nothing something extravagant. With him out the house she felt a weight lift off her shoulders. She decided that she needed to wash away the images that were flashing in her mind. She wanted so much for him to look at her in that loving way.

“Why can’t I change? All I want is for him to love me the way he used to, but all I seem to do is make him want to hurt me.” Her concentration was interrupted by the barely audible ring of a cell phone from somewhere in the room. She ran to the corner of the bedroom and pulled back the lose carpet that was there. She moved the floor board away and there covered in dust was a small cell phone. Angel became frantic. If it had rang any earlier Shai would have heard it and her one little bit of normalcy would have been gone. She picked up the phone and stared at the number on the screen. Her heart decided to climb back into her throat.

“Hello?” she answered in the calmest voice she could manage so that he couldn’t tell there was something wrong with her.

“How are you beautiful?” the man on the phone answered. She smiled to herself at the question. Whenever she heard his voice she could not help but feel beautiful and wanted.

“I’m fine. I was about to take a shower actually when you decided to interrupt.” Angel said with a forced laugh.

“You don’t sound fine to me. What’s wrong with you?”

That was one thing she could not stand about him. He always knew when she didn’t want to tell him something. It was like he could tell when she was lying to him and she hated doing it so much. He could somehow pick it out of her voice. But he didn’t know that there was something that she could not admit telling him.

“It was nothing. We just got into an argument this morning.”

“What was it about?”

“Nothing I really have to take a shower …”

“Did he rape you, Angel?” he interrupted

“Why would you say that? You have no right. I never told you anything like that.”

“You know it isn’t right the way he treats you. You can feel it. A man doesn’t abuse the woman he loves.” He went on as if she had said nothing.

“Stop saying that.”

“Why can’t you admit it? You know it is wrong but you let him do it anyway. Angel you are stronger than this. Why would you let some do that to you?”

“Bye. I have to go now.”

“Come on, Angel.”

“I can’t do this, bye.” She hung up the phone and turned off the ringer. She wasn’t mad at him really. She knew that he would have never let her go if she did not tell him what he wanted to hear. No matter how right he was she could never bring herself around to admit what was going on in her life. She hoped if she never said it, that it would just sort itself out.

The screen of the phone lit up and his number showed up again.

“I don’t want to talk about it. Do you want me to get angry with you?” She said as soon as she picked up the phone.

“No. But you can’t expect me to sit here and act like everything is fine.”

“Nothing is wrong. It was a simple argument. I didn’t feel good and didn’t want to have sex this morning so he got angry. I’ve been happily married for almost 7 years. Why would I stay with a man that you say abuses me? Do you think I’m that stupid?” she said in a hush voice. She felt horrible for lying to him but she was not ready for him to hear her say what she had kept hidden from even herself when she could.

“You are not stupid, but you can be naïve.”

“So is that what you think about me? That I don’t know any better? Why do still talk to me if I am so naïve?”

“Because I love you, Angel. I might be on the other side of the country, but that does not mean that I do not. I feel that there is something wrong with you. What kind of person would I be if I did not see if my feelings have any truth in them? One thing I know for sure is that I care about you more than he does.”

“You do not know that.” She replied quickly before what he said had time to pervert her thoughts about Shai.

“I don’t need to. You show it every time we talk. When I call you don’t even hesitate to pick up the phone.”

“I just like talking to you.” She said feeling flushed.

“If you say so.” he said laughing, “I got to go anyway. I’ll call you another time.”

“No. Don’t call anymore. I will call you.” She said quickly.

“Um ok. Before I go I will let you know something. I know your hiding something from me. One day I will find out what it is.” With that he hung up and Angel felt her life darken just a little bit.

She sat there a little longer holding the phone to her ear. He was one of her few real joys in life and she most likely would never meet him. She had saw a picture of him once, but she could never remember anything more than his wonderful smile.

Reviews

[Narrissa Snow]

intresting peice, your character development is really nice. though i did notice a few grammer and sentance structre proplems. apart from that it's a good peice keep it up.

[The Ghost]

I have some more written down just not typed up

[Rhan F. Sydney]

Please continue. I enjoyed it very much.